Supply chain organisations have spent the better part of the last decade investing in digital capabilities — control towers, advanced planning systems, artificial intelligence and automation. Yet despite those investments, many still struggle to translate visibility into measurable operational outcomes.
Nick Banich, Chief Revenue Officer at Miebach Consulting, told SCMR in an interview at the Modex 2026 conference in Atlanta: "One of the biggest requests we're seeing is how can we get more tangible results operationally out of the digital investments that we're putting into place." Banich said many companies have successfully piloted new tools but struggle to show clear return on investment.
A core challenge is that visibility alone does not drive execution. Banich added: "Signals get picked up in pieces — without focused attention or anyone clearly responsible for deciding what needs escalation." The result: delayed responses, missed opportunities and avoidable disruptions.
Artificial intelligence adds another layer to the conversation and another source of expectations. Banich sees most of what is currently labelled as AI delivering incremental improvements rather than transformational change. "Right now we're primarily in small productivity — seven, eight percent — I don't think we're at the point where large-scale systemic agentic AI solves all problems," he said. Supply chains remain fragmented, with multiple systems of record and inconsistent data structures hindering AI initiatives from moving past pilots. The fix isn't more technology investment — it's a combination of clear decision ownership, systems-and-processes alignment and focus on operational outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
1. SCMR: Supply chain investments still struggle to translate into measurable operational outcomes.
2. Miebach's Nick Banich: 'Visibility alone does not drive execution.'
3. AI currently delivers 7-8% productivity gains; agentic AI is not yet solving all problems.
4. Data quality and system fragmentation make moving past pilots difficult for AI initiatives.
5. The fix: clear decision ownership + systems-process alignment + focus on operational outcomes.
